Insects are highly adaptable and efficient in their ability to synthesize and metabolize diverse chemical compounds. The firefly Pyrocoelia spp., (Coleoptera: Lampyridae), is confronted with various chemical assaults throughout its life cycle, the defensive toxins secreted by snails and slugs during firefly larval predation, synthetic pesticides during adult stage, and the risk of auto-toxicity from endogenously produced lucibufagins. Despite the ecological, cultural and economic significance and conservation concerns surrounding fireflies, a clear understanding of their detoxification processes at gene and molecular level is lacking. This review discusses molecular basis of major detoxification enzyme superfamilies, viz., Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s), Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs), UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGTs), Carboxylesterases (CarEs), and ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters. Further the transcriptional regulatory networks, including various pathways that contribute to the induction and expression of these defense genes are discussed in detail. This provides a rationale and a roadmap for developing molecular biomarkers for ecotoxicological risk assessment, deriving conservation strategies for declining firefly populations, and helps in understanding the evolution of chemical adaptation in non-model insects.
